Rock art

The National Monuments Service's description

In the N half of a pasture field, on elevated ground at the NE edge of Doagh Island. The location has excellent views N and E over Trawbreaga Bay, with the long stretch of Malin peninsula beyond; to W ground rises gradually in a series of small hills and rocky peaks; higher hills and mountainous peaks form a dramatic distant backdrop at SW.

Abundant cupmarks and cup-in-ring motifs are dispersed on a relatively flat, smooth fine-grain bedrock surface which is flush with ground level. The exposed surface (c. 8m ENE-WSW; c. 2.6m N-S at W end, c. 1m at E end) is roughly triangular in plan, broadest at W and narrowing at E, but the full extent of the stone is unknown as the margins are concealed by encroaching sod/grass. It is located on the E edge of a low, natural grass-covered rise, with a gently fall of ground to NE-SE. The rock surface mirrors the slope, tilting down slight to E and SE.
A grid of natural linear fissures on N-S and E-W axes subdivides the stone surface into rectilinear compartments or panels, with minor undulations or slight changes in level in parts. Faint natural striations on an E-W axis also cross the stone.
Over 50 motifs are visible on the exposed surface, with a high density on the W and middle portions of the stone, petering out towards the E-SE sector. Cupmarks predominate on the N half where the fissures define narrow elongated spaces (c. 0.15-0.2m N-S; 1-2m E-W). The cupmarks range in diameter from 3-4cm to 8-10cm, and mostly occur in E-W rows, dictated by the narrow panels.
On the SW and S sectors of the stone, the fissures are more widely spaced providing broad expanses for decoration, and here there is a more complex array of motifs. It includes a cluster of large cup-and-multiple ring motifs interspersed with cupmarks, and a series parallel linear grooves (L c. 20cm). The largest motif is in the SW corner. It consist of a central cup (diam. 8-10cm) with four close-set rings (ext. diam. 50-52cm) with a linear groove extends through the rings to S. To NW of this motif are 5-6 parallel linear groves on a NW-SE axis, terminating at their SE end at a natural fissure; 25cm to N is a cup with two rings; 30cm to NE is a cup enclosed by one ring and three concentric arcs; 40cm to E is a disc-like cup (diam. 15cm) with two rings, and abutting the E side of the latter is a cup (diam. 7cm) with one broadly spaced ring (diam. c. 22cm).
Amongst the cupmarks in the middle portion of the stone, there are a number of small cup-and-one ring motifs, the rings (diam. 6-12cm) mostly indistinct. In the NE sector a ring encloses a central cup with two slight dimples or micro-cups on the W side of the central cup. Immediately to E of this are a number of short linear scratch marks of uncertain significance.

An exposed rock surface bearing a single rock art motif (DG004-088002-) is 0.8m to NE; it may be part of the same bedrock seam but intervening grass cover conceals proof of this.

Notified to NMS by Faolain Porter.

Attached images:
DG004-088001-_01 Viewed from S, overlooking the mouth of Trawbreaga Bay
DG004-088001-_02 Viewed from W, overlooking Trawbreaga Bay
DG004-088001-_03 Viewed from NE
DG004-088001-_04 viewed from E
DG004-088001-_05 N half viewed from E
DG004-088001-_06 NE sector, viewed from E
DG004-088001-_07 SW quadrant, viewed from N
DG004-088001-_08 Detail of motifs in SW sector, viewed from S
DG004-088001-_09 Detail of motifs in S sector, viewed from S

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 20 January 2023